Danny DeVito, who played the Penguin in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, has spoken about Colin Farrell’s performance in the role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
Danny DeVito appeared as Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin opposite Michael Keaton’s Batman in the eerily gothic portrayal of Gotham City brought to life by Tim Burton. Batman Returns depicted the Penguin as a disfigured child who was cast into the sewers by his parents and raised by penguins from an abandoned zoo, before being groomed as a mayoral candidate by seedy businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken). The Batman took a more grounded approach, with Colin Farrell playing the Penguin as a major figure in the criminal underworld and Carmine Falcone’s right-hand man.
In a recent interview with TheWrap, Danny DeVito was asked about Colin Farrell’s turn as the classic Batman villain and what he thought of the new take on the character he had played in Batman Returns. “Yes, I did [see Farrell in The Batman]. I thought Colin did a great job,” DeVito revealed. He went on to praise Farrell’s performance and dedication to the hefty makeup job that comes with the role of the Penguin:
“Certainly a different milieu. I think it was a more edgy, serious, gangster-y Batman. Of course there’s three Italians who are bad guys in it, the Falcones (laughs). But I feel like in terms of the performances, I thought Colin – who is a good buddy of mine – I think he did a great job in that. You take your hat off to anybody who sits in the makeup chair that long. I did it with The Penguin and loved it.”
When asked about comparing the two movies, DeVito admitted “I’m like a Tim Burton fan,” saying “I like the whimsical, the operatic, the disaffected Pee-wee Herman throws me off a bridge (laughs). That makes me smile. So it’s a different situation, but I did watch the movie.”
Here is the synopsis for The Batman:
Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.
When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as the titular hero and Bruce Wayne, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, with Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, and Barry Keoghan as The Joker.
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Source: TheWrap
